Goldman Sachs let Warren Buffett learnt a bitter lesson

Warren Buffett, well-known as the "Oracle of Omaha", has been famous for value investing, and also declaring derivatives as the "weapons of economic mass destruction" and stated that he would never be involved in them.

He derailed from this belief, when Berkshire Hathaway in 2008, at the peak of the financial crisis, purchased $5 billion worth of Goldman Sachs' perpetual preferred stock with a 10% dividend and warrants on $5 billion worth of common stock at the price of $115.

Since then, Buffett has been talking good about Goldman Sachs and declaring his strong endorsement to its CEO Lloyd Blankfien. Last week, Ron Olson, one of Berkshire’s directors, once again defended Goldman  by saying that "Buffett invested out of belief in not just the strength of Goldman but its integrity."

To the great surprise of the whole world, it was just 3 days right after that "integrity" assurance from Berkshire, Goldman was accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of defrauding its investors. A civil charge was filed on 16 April 2010.

Goldman is accused to have promoted and sold mortgage investments to its investors, without telling the buyers that the securities were crafted with input from its client, Paulson (a hedge fund capitalize on the housing bust), who was betting on them to fail.

The SEC said Paulson paid Goldman roughly $15 million in 2007 to devise an investment which tied to mortgage-related securities that the hedge fund viewed as likely to decline in value. Separately, Paulson took out a form of insurance that allowed it to make a huge profit when those securities' value plunged.

SEC stated that, "Goldman wrongly permitted a client (Paulson) that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective 3rd party."

Goldman's investors of that securities have lost about a billion dollar in less than a year thereafter, while Paulson reaped in its fabulous profit.

In fact, Goldman had been warned on this fraud case, in black-and-white by SEC, as early as in July 2009. The question is: did Buffett knew about that? If he didn't, then why? If he did, well, well, well....

The stock price of Goldman dropped heavily after this allegation, causing Buffett to gave out most of the profit he made earlier in his Goldman deal. However, the blow to Buffett is minimal in monetary wise. The bitter lesson to Buffett is the deteriotation to the reputation and respect which he built for decades, which had won him the title as the "Oracle of Omaha".

Now, all the eyes is staring on him, especially when the AGM of Berkshire Hathaway is just a moment away from now.

All investors make mistakes, including Buffett. But this mistake he made is really very costly. Let's wait what he'll say...

Garmin releases MalSingMaps Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.20 for free update

Garmin has made available MalSingMaps (MSM) Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.20 for free update now.

You can click here to download the installation file of MalSingMaps Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.20 from Garmin server. The file size is pretty huge, 742,884kb.

The installation program will update gmapprom1.img, gmapprom1.unl and SGMYMAL.JCV in your Garmin GPS navigator.

During the installation process, you'll be asked for the unlock key. The key is stored in the existing gmapprom1.unl file in your Garmin GPS navigator, which you can open with Notepad or any text editor. Just copy and paste the key to the installer when asked.

The size of SGMYMAL.JCV has increased tremendously to 352,764kb. Therefore, we can expect many more road junctions to have Junction View in Garmin with this map.

Version highlights:

• Synchronize to Malsingmaps v4.08.
• Extending more JCVs around Malaysia
• Add new categories of Brand icons
• Add more POIs, postal code data and lane information

Have you upgraded your Windows Chinese IME to the new Microsoft Pinyin (MSPY) 2010?

Good news to all MS Windows XP/Vista/7 users who need to type Chinese characters using IME!

Microsoft has just released Microsoft Pinyin (MSPY 微软拼音输入法) 2010 which is free to download and install to upgrade the existing Chinese IME in your MS Windows operating system.

This new release of MSPY 2010 is jointly developed by Microsoft and Harbin Institute of Technology (哈尔滨工业大学) in HeiLongJiang, China. In fact, its beta testing version has been made available to the public since last year, and now it is finally officially released. It is expected to also bundled as part of the coming MS Office 2010.

MSPY 2010 loads up much faster than the previous MSPY 2007, and also has faster respond to keyboard typing.

By using MSPY 2010, we can type Chinese faster as it is more accurate in getting the correct words we want, and it supports short-cut input style as well as intelligent word predictions.

MSPY 2010 supports 2 different input styles, namely Simple Fast (简捷) and New Experience (新体验).

The Simple Fast typing style looks like this:

and you can see how fast the typing is by using short-cut input with accurate prediction of the IME:

The New Experience typing style looks like this:

MSPY 2010 can accurately predict many new Internet jargons. It also supports a vast variety of professional dictionaries to get more accurate results.

If you are still using the old IME to type Chinese in Windows, I'll recommend you to try out this MSPY 2010.

Click here to go to the official website and download page of Microsoft PinYin 2010.

PS: If you face problem in using Regional and Language Options to assign the keyboard sequence for calling out the input method, you can make use of IMETool to set your preferred keyboard sequence, and it never fail you.

Work-life lessons from Peter Drucker

Peter F. Drucker (19 Nov 1909 – 11 Nov 2005) is well-known as "the father of modern management".

In fact, Drucker's teachings on personal growth or self-management, are as profound as his views on organizational management.

Drucker personified the value of creating and living a "total life" with diverse interests, relationships, and pursuits. He called this as "living in more than one world."

He exemplified the following 5 key elements to crate a "total life":

1. Practice self-development

Drucker opined that: "What matters is that the knowledge worker, by the time he or she reaches middle age, has developed and nourished a human being rather than a tax accountant or a hydraulic engineer."

We should start thinking about our life, both as it is now and where we'd like it to go. It should cover not only our work, but also our life outside of work, i.e. family, friends, interests, activities, and pursuits.

2. Identify and develop your unique strengths

Consider what's unique about what you do, and in what areas you excel and contribute the most, both at work and outside of work. Focus on those strengths, which are your own core competencies, and find new ways to cultivate and cherish them.

3. Create a parallel or second career

Drucker said, "The purpose of the work on making the future is not to decide what should be done tomorrow, but what should be done today to have a tomorrow."

Drucker encouraged us to think about possibilities for a parallel or second career, while we're still in our main job. Leveraging on our existing knowledge and experience, and exploring into the area of teaching, writing, or working in non-profit organizations could be some good idea.

4. Exercise your generosity

Drucker believed an essential part of living in more than one world is to display a sense of generosity.

Sharing your time and talents in areas such as volunteerism, social entrepreneurship and mentoring, not only provide opportunities to contribute, but also offer personal benefits from broadening and deepening your life experience to expanding your circle of friends and colleagues.


5. Teaching and learning

Drucker would like to see us to incorporate continuous learning as a natural part of our daily life. We should also consider teaching, as he said, "No one learns as much as the person who must teach his subject."

Drucker’s secrets to success can help our life and career be more satisfying, meaningful and multi-dimensional. The following are 7 tips to get started:

• Focus on achievement, not money
• Make time for thinking - where you are and where you're going.
• Practice "systematic abandonment" - stepping back, at regular intervals, to determine which of your present activities can be scaled back or eliminated. Only then can you make way for something more fruitful.
• Volunteer your time and talent
• Become a mentor - if you’ve been guided by mentors of your own, pay it forward by mentoring others. If not, look for opportunities to both mentor and be mentored.
• Learn the art of leisure
• Be the CEO of your own life - self-management is an ongoing discipline, requiring self-knowledge, introspection, and personal responsibility. Start now to think of yourself as the CEO of your own life and career, and take accountability for your decisions and actions. Know who you are, what is important to you, and how you will contribute at work and in the world.

The above are my notes taken from an article written by Bruce Rosenstein, the author of the book Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker's Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life.

Property investment in information age with Google Earth and Google Maps

Mr Ho Chin Soon (何振顺) recent talk in The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010 has enlightened me about the use of Google Earth and Google Maps in property investment.

Google Earth enables us to zoom in to the property of our interest, survey its surrounding environment and nearby township, assess the road systems and buildings, measuring distance from city center, know the nearby amenities, etc. You can also watch Panoramio photos and/or Youtube videos of selected locations uploaded by contributors in the Internet.

One of the powerful feature of Google Earth is it Historical Imagery, which enables us to view the historical satellite images of the location, and see its change and development over time.

For example, we are able to see the rapid development of Kota Damansara on the northern part of Klang Valley, by looking at its Historical Imagery in 2004...

and compare with its most recent image taken in 2007...

Meanwhile, Google Maps is directly accessible with your web browser, and enable you to easily switch between Satellite view, Map view and Terrain view.

No doubt that Google Earth and Google Maps can help you study the area of interest, find out the township developments and conditions of the surroundings, before you actually pay a visit to the site. They can also give you a clearer picture about the present and past developments and constructions of a location, and probably let you discover some growth area that you might be interested to invest in.

The most reliable laptop brands are...

If you are planning to buy a new laptop or a new netbook during the PC Fair or otherwise, you might be interested to read this.

SquareTrade, the largest independent warranty service provider in US has, in 16 November 2009, unveiled a report that analyzed failure rates of over 30,000 new notebook computers manufactured by 9 leading brands (with minimum 1,000 units of each brand sampled) over the past 3 years.

The report concluded that:

• 31% of laptop failed during the first 3 years. 2/3 of this failure (20.4%) came from hardware malfunctions, another 1/3 (10.6%) was reported as accidental damage.
• Netbooks have a 20% higher failure rate from hardware malfunctions than laptops.
• The failure rate is inversely propotional to the market grade (and price) of the laptop.

And the most reliable laptop brands are Asus and Toshiba which scored almost equally.

So, if reliability is important to you, you might probably consider laptop than netbook, with preferance to the more reliable brands above.

Click here to read the full report of SquareTrade's Laptop Reliability Study.

The most reliable digital camera brand is...

If you are planning to buy a new digital camera during the PC Fair or otherwise, you might be interested to read this.

SquareTrade, the largest independent warranty service provider in US has, in 31 March 2010, unveiled a report that analyzed failure data from a sample of over 60,000 new digital cameras purchased by their warranty customers.

The report concluded that 11% of digital cameras fail over the first 2 years of ownership, whereby 6.6% of failures coming from malfunctions and 4.1% from accidents.

Interestingly, they also found out that the failure rate is inversely propotional to the price of the camera. Cheaper point-and-shot digital cameras are more vulnerable to malfunction than the more costly Digital SLR cameras.

And the most reliable point-and-shot digital camera brand is... Panasonic.

How about the DSLR? There is no significant difference between the reliability of Nikon and Canon.


Click here to read the full report of SquareTrade's Digital Camera Failure Study.

LTKM the hidden gem stock yet to be discovered

Before the merger of KLSE's main and second board, LTKM (7085) was listed in the second board, and like most of the stock counters there, was out of the radar screen of most institutional and personal investors. This could probably explain why its price is stable and steady without much fluctuation most of the time.

Even now, its number of share remains at a low level of 42,055,002 only, and 60% of them are tightly controlled by Ladang Ternakan Kelang Sdn Bhd (the "fullname" of LTK), which founded by the 3 Tan brothers way back in 1976, and initially operated on a small piece of 10-acre land in Kampung Jawa, Klang.

The "M" in LTKM is Melaka. Ladang Ternakan Kelang (Melaka) Sdn Bhd was established in 1986 after they acquired a 448 acres freehold land in the district of Durian Tunggal, Melaka. LTKM was listed on KLSE's Second Board in March 2000.

LTKM is famous as the single largest centralized poultry farm in Malaysia. Each and every day, LTKM produces at least 1.3 million fresh shell eggs. They are fully integrated in egg production including the processing and trading of organic fertilizer. They employ high production technology, including the biosecure environment controlled housing and automatic egg collection equipment.

They are well known as the sole producer and distributor of MARDITECH licensed Omega-3 eggs under the brand name LTK Omega Plus. LTKM was given the exclusive rights to produce Omega-3 eggs using MARDI's feed formulation, despite nowadays there are a few "me-too" brands of Omega eggs in the market. Another famous brand from LTKM is LTK Organic Selenium Plus, an R&D result with MARDITECH.

Currently over 40% of LTKM's eggs are exported to Singapore and Hong Kong. The balances are sold to wholesalers throughout Malaysia.

While egg production is the main business of LTKM, and many has the perception that they are only in this business, in fact, LTKM has ventured into other business, such as organic fertilizers (since 1993), property development (since 2006), sand extraction and trading (since 2008). Their latest venture is into glass processing business in 2009. Therefore, LTKM has been diversified their business into different areas, and I like their entrepreneur spirit.

Certain analyst are curious about their business venture to glass processing, which seems unrelated to their livestock business. But taking a closer look at it, I found there is relationship between sand extraction, glass processing and property development. Do you agree with this observation?

LTKM is currently building their glass processing factory in Sungai Rasah, Klang and expected to start operation by 2nd half of 2010. They have hired 2 experts from overseas, Mohan Menon and Alexander Akguel, to help them establish this new business under the brand name Lumiglass.

So, what make me feel that LTKM is a hidden gem? All back to fundamental facts and figures.

As you can see from my estimation of their upcoming FYE2010 based on simple normalization, LTKM is likely to announce their best ever revenue and profit result, with the estimated EPS of 45 sen. If they really achieve this, the net profit will be more than double from last year, and the ROE could be standing at a high ground of 18.44%.

Something worth notice is that, on 24 February 2010, LTKM has revalued their freehold land and buildings, which will contribute an exceptional gain of about 19 sen per share to its 4th quarter EPS to be announced in May 2010. With this, technically the EPS for 4th quarter will be much higher than my estimation above which didn't take this exceptional gain into account.

You might have observed that LTKM share price and transaction volume have both risen immediately after the asset revaluation announcement, which formed a strong support at RM1.53, which was the peak of 25 February 2010.

Meanwhile, LTKM is going to distrubute a 3 sen single tier interim dividend soon, the ex-date is 14 April 2010. Based on historical records, I estimate the full year dividend to be 10 sen, with another 7 sen final dividend in 4th quarter.

Closing at RM1.61 on 6 April 2010, we can therefore calculate based on my estimation that:

• PE = 1.61/0.45 = 3.58
• DY = 0.10/1.61 = 6.2%

I think the asset revalue exercise of LTKM might be a sign of possible bonus issue in the future to increase their issued shares from the current low level.

Perhaps this hidden gem will be discovered when they release their 2010 Annual Report in around August.

Click here to visit the website of LTKM. Their website is really informative.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.

The 4Ss, 6Ms and 8Ps of business

Do you know what are the 4Ss, 6Ms and 8Ps of business?

Well, the 4Ss, 6Ms and 8Ps define key elements in a business from 3 different perspectives.

The 4Ss are:

• Skills
• Surroundings
• Suppliers
• Systems

The 6Ms are:

• Men
• Money
• Markets
• Methods
• Machines
• Materials

And the 8Ps are:

• People
• Process
• Policies
• Procedures
• Price
• Promotions
• Places/Plants
• Products

In these 3 different prespectives, do you notice they all start with one common factor, which is:

Skills = Men = Peoples = Human resources

Undeniably, human resources are the most important element in the business. Without Skills, the rest of the Ss mean nothing; Without Men, the rest of the Ms also mean nothing; and without People, the rest of the Ps mean nothing.

Realising this is very important, so that:

• When implementing Enterprise Resource System (ERP), you should put emphasis on the human resources (users) more than the infrastructure, data, information, etc.
• If you are a boss, you know which part of your business is the most important one, that you might affort to lost the others, but definitely not this one, in order to sustain your business.
• If you are a financial controller, you should know how to better control the company's financial in the way that will not deteriorate the company.
• If you are an employee, you should know why you need the certifications and continuous improvement on your knowledge and skillsets, which are actually your core value to contribute to your company.

CDP Roadshow 2010: Your Knowledge Hub To Maximise Your Potential

For information, MSC Malaysia Capability Development Programme (CDP) is organising the "CDP Roadshow 2010: Your knowledge Hub to Maximise Your Potential" event.


Date: 7-8 April 2010
Time: 9am - 5pm
Venue: Cyberview Lodge, Cyberjaya


Renowned speakers including:

• Howard Kendell (founder of Service Desk Institute)
• Darrell Mann (CEO of FR Innovation Software Systems)
• Saravanan Karumanan (Director of Organisational Consulting, Right Management Malaysia)
• Dr. Dominic Lau (Director of Applied Research, UCSI Blue Ocean Strategy)
• Simen Seow (Managing Director of Infospec)
• A. Nathan (Senior Consultant of mfQ Asia)
• etc. 

will discuss and share their knowledge in the areas such as:

• Service Management
• Blue Ocean Strategy
• Risk Management
• CMMI for Services
• Workforce Management
• Innovation
• PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments)
•  etc.

Click here for event agenda and more information about CDP Roadshow 2010.

A small truth to make life 100%

Just to share with you the following interesting write-up...

If

is ciphered to

can we get the keyword to make life 100%?

Hard Work

H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11

= 98%

Knowledge

K+N+O+W+L+E+D+G+E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5

= 96%

Love

L+O+V+E

12+15+22+5

= 54%

Luck

L+U+C+K

12+21+3+11

= 47%

(don't most of us think this is the most important???)

Then what makes 100%?

Is it Money? ... NO!!!

M+O+N+E+Y

13+15+14+5+25

= 72%

Leadership? ... NO!!!

L+E+A+D+E+R+S+H+I+P

12+5+1+4+5+18+19+8+9+16

= 97%

Every problem has a solution, only if we

perhaps change our attitude.

To go to the top, to that 100%, what we

really need to go further... a bit more...

ATTITUDE

A+T+T+I+T+U+D+E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5

= 100%

It is OUR ATTITUDE towards Life and Work

that make OUR Life 100%!!!

People with the Right Positive Attitude will make a more efficient organization which will contribute towards a better society and a prosperous nation!

On the other hand, those with a Negative Attitude and blaming everybody else, will not only NOT solve the problem, but will likely make it worse.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

Change Your Attitude...

And You Change Your Life!!!

Now that you know the answer...

WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS TO SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH THOSE YOU CARE.

Do not hesitate to click the SHARE button below!

TM new High Speed Broadband (HSBB) UniFi packages

TM launched its High Speed Broadband (HSBB) service with brand name UniFi on 24 March 2010.

The UniFi network is an end-to-end all-fibre optic, all-Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure being built by TM to replace their older copper based telecommunications infrastructure.

UniFi is a bundled triple play service offering High Speed Internet, HyppTV (IPTV) and Voice service. There are 3 available packages for residential consumer and 3 packages for business.

Consumer (residential) packages:

• VIP5 - up to 5Mbps upload and download speed, RM149/month
• VIP10 - up to 10Mbps upload and download speed, RM199/month
• VIP20 - up to 20Mbps upload and download speed, RM249/month

There will be no installation and activation fee, no deposit, no Voice rental, and free equipments.

Product features:

• HyppTV Channels including RTM1, RTM2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9, Hikmah, Bernama TV, Australian Network, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies, Channel News Asia, Channel V Taiwan, DWTV, Euronews, Fashion TV, STAR Chinese Channel, STAR Chinese Movies, Travel Channel, LUXE TV, etc.
• Set-Top-Box
• 1x Streamyx Zone ID
• Dynamic IP address
• 2GB email space
• Call rates: free calls to TM fixed lines nationwide, flat rate 10 sen/min to all mobiles and other fixed lines nationwide, normal IDD rate
• Free cordless phone
• Premise Gateway with Wireless N
• Fair Usage Policy (FUP): Maximum 60GB (VIP5), 90GB (VIP10), 120GB (VIP20) download per month

Click here for more information about UniFi residential packages.

These packages seem more attractive than their previously launched Blockbuster Deals.

Business packages:

• BIZ5 - up to 5Mbps upload and download speed, RM199/month
• BIZ10 - up to 10Mbps upload and download speed, RM599/month
• BIZ20 - up to 20Mbps upload and download speed, RM899/month

There will also be no installation and activation fee, no deposit, no Voice rental, and free equipments.

Product features:

• 1x Streamyx Zone ID
• Dynamic IP address for BIZ5, fixed IP address for BIZ10 and BIZ20
• 2GB email space
• Call rates: 5 sen/min to TM fixed lines nationwide, flat rate 15 sen/min to all mobiles and other fixed lines nationwide, normal IDD rate
• Free DECT cordless phone
• Premise Gateway with Wireless N
• Unlimited usage
• 10GB Web Hosting Basic with customized domain name
• 5GB e-Storage Basic
• Service level guarantee

Click here for more information about UniFi business packages.

Currently, UniFi only available in limited Klang Valley areas including Bangsar, Shah Alam, Subang and Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. Click here to check the UniFi roll out schedule to your area.

Top 10 IT priorities for 2010

In January 2010, CIO Magazine has conducted a survey among CIO.com visitors to gauge which technology areas IT professionals plan to focus on, and received respond from 405 IT decision makers involved in buying technology products and services for their organizations.

The 6 pages exclusive research report reveals the top 10 areas of interest that IT decision makers care about in 2010 are:

• Cloud computing
• Business process management
• Web 2.0 / social networking technologies
• Desktop/client virtualization
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Analytics
• Storage virtualization
• Enterprise data management
• Software as a Service (SaaS) and Web services
• Collaboration technologies

Beside that, it is found that mobile and wireless applications are the most frequently cited technologies currently in production either enterprise-wide or on a division or business unit scale.

Click here to report the report of CIO Technology Priorities Survey (January 2010) for more detail.

Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10 stable version released

After quite a long beta period, finally the stable version of Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10 is now officially released.

For those who haven't tried the Opera web browser for mobile devices, you should test it out. It is free, and most of the time it provides much better browsing experience as well as surfing speed than the original web browser that comes with your handphone.

To download Opera Mini 5 or Opera Mobile 10 to your handphone, simply make a visit to http://m.opera.com/ with your handphone, and the automated download and installation process should be initiated.

Opera Mini 5 is available on all Java-based handphones. Opera Mobile 10 is available on Windows Mobile and Symbian S60-based smartphones.

Here is how the new Opera Mini 5 screen looks like in my Sony Ericsson P1i.

And here is how this blog looks like when browsed with Opera Mini 5 (landscape mode).

When you tab on any area, it will enlarge that region, then the text and pictures will be readable.

Air fresheners might contain toxic substances

Do you use air freshner in your office? living room? bedroom? toilet? car?

A report from the Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) organization titled "Foul-smelling whiff from air fresheners!" alerted that air fresheners do not "purify" the ambient air, but on the contrary pollute it by releasing well-known toxic substances.

The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) and 5 of its member organisations had tested on 76 air fresheners products, and found out many contain:

• Formaldehyde and benzene - which could cause cancer in humans
• Acetaldehyde or styrene - that irritates the respiratory tract, allergens and potential carcinogens
• Toluene, chlorbenzene, glycol ethers, phthalates and artificial musk - all known to be dangerous to health

Not to mention all the other chemicals not assessed in this test and about which we know nothing.

These products represent a real risk to health not only of allergy sufferers, asthmatics, pregnant or nursing women and children, but also to anyone using them continuously.

As a result, it is advisable not to use air fresheners to avoid exposure to those toxic substances. Perhaps air ionizer is a better alternative.

Malaysia UKM students win 1st place in eVolo 2010 Skyscraper Competition

The 1st place winner of eVolo Magazine's Skyscraper Competition in 2010 has been awarded to 3 architecture students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze. Congratulation!


As a background, this annual Skyscraper Competition recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organization.

This winning contest entry project examines the possibility of creating a vertical prison in the sky where inmates will have to work and live in a community that will contribute to the host city below. The prison will have agricultural fields, factories, and recyclable plants that will be operated by the offenders as a way to give back to the community. They will live “free” until they have completed their sentence and are prepared to rejoin their communities.

The vertical prison has its own transportation system which consists of different “pods” for officers, prisoners, firefighters, and other workers.

Click here to read more about the brilliant idea of Vertical Prison.

Also worth to mention is another Malaysian entry by architect Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum has also won the Special Mention prize in the same competition. His entry is "Water-Scraper: Underwater Architecture", which is a self sufficient structure designed to float on the ocean.

Click here to read more about the unique design of Water-Scraper.

The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010

Once again, The Edge and UOB Bank are organizing a real estate investment forum in Kuala Lumpur. This year, the theme is: "To buy or not to buy: Where to put your money?". Readers of The Edge can register now for free.

Date: 10 April 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 9am - 1pm
Venue: Sime Darby Convention Centre, Bukit Kiara, KL

Interesting topics of discussion:

• Malaysian property market outlook in 2010 - Is the picture clearer?
• Valuation creation in property investment
• Panel discussion on "Property, REITs or property stocks?"

Lucky participants will walk away with Ho Chin Soon research maps worth RM2,000 each.

Click here for more information and online registration to The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010.

Are you born to be a billionaire?

The Sunday Star dated 14 March 2010 reveiled an interesting finding from their "So you want to be a millionaire?" survey with YouthSays and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), which polled 1,678 people below the age of 30 thoughout Malaysia.

The finding: 96% of the respondents aspire to become millionaires, and 75% of them believe that they can achieve it by the age of 35! Wow!

If you haven't read about the report, here is the online version:

• "I want to be a millionaire"
• Poll: Most youth yearn to be millionaires before they are 35

Anyhow, the first question to all millionaire wannabes is: Are you willing to pay the price to make millions (or even billions).  

Here is a list of 13 self-assessment questions in a Forbes' article:

• Why Go Big at All? - What and where are your long-term goals?
• Can You See Around Corners? - What and where are your visions?
• Can You Tolerate and Manage Ambiguity? - Are you able to see through a jungle of conflicting data?
• Do You Prize Independence?
• Do You Have the Guts to Double-Down?
• Are You Inspired by Creativity or More Process-Oriented?
• Are You Willing to Make Tough Decisions For the Growth of the Company?
• Do You Like Speaking in Public?
• Are You a Consensus-Builder?
• Can You Delegate?
• If You Say You Need it On Your Desk By 9am, Will it Get Done? 
• Can You Work on Christmas?
• Can You Deal with Isolation? 

For more explanation of each of the items above, please click here to read about the "Are You Born To Be A Billionaire?" article in Forbes' website.

The Top 10s in Universities Ranking on the Web (Jan 2010 Edition) by Webometrics

By now, results of SPM, STPM, GCE, UEC, etc. should have been released, and it is time for those secondary school graduates who want to further their study to look for university.

Tertiary education requires a lot of cost, several years of your lifespan, have material impact to your ideology, and might be an important factor for your career path. Therefore, it is important to choose the university wisely, and a worldwide universities ranking can be a good indicator for you.

The Webometrics World Universities' Ranking has coverage to more than 18,000 Higher Education Institutions worldwide. It summarizes the global performance of the university, provides information for candidate students and scholars, and reflects the commitment to the dissemination of scientific knowledge.

It is an initiative of the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group of the Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS), part of the National Research Council (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain.

Now, let's see some of the Top 10s from the results of Webometrics' Jan 2010 Edition of Universities Ranking.
 
Top 10 country/political region for tertiary education:

• 1. United States
• 2. United Kingdom
• 3. Germany
• 4. Canada
• 5. Taiwan
• 6. Sweden
• 7. Spain
• 8. Japan
• 9. Brazil
• 10. Netherlands

Click here to see the Top 45 ranking and more information about the Webometrics Country Scoreboard.

So, if you are Human Resource or manager in your company going to interview candidates graduated from one of the country/political region above, go ahead and challenge them with tougher questions. If they passed, offer them a higher pay.

World's Top 10 Universities:

• 1. Harvard University
• 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 3. Stanford University
• 4. University of California Berkeley
• 5. Cornell University
• 6. University of Washington
• 7. University of Minnesota
• 8. Johns Hopkins University
• 9. University of Michigan
• 10. University of Wisconsin Madison

All in the Top 10 are from the United States.

Click here to see the Top 8000 Universities of the world.

Top 10 Universities in Asia:

• 1. University of Tokyo, Japan (38)
• 2. Kyoto University, Japan (52)
• 3. National Taiwan University, Taiwan (63) 
• 4. University of Hong Kong (128)
• 5. Chinese University of Hong Kong (130)
• 6. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (133)
• 7. Keio University, Japan (136)
• 8. National University of Singapore (146)
• 9. National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan (153)
• 10. Nagoya University, Japan (161)

The number in the brackets above is their respective World Ranking.

Click here to see the Top 100 Universities in Asia.

Top 10 Universities in South East Asia:

• 1. National University of Singapore (146)
• 2. Kasetsart University, Thailand (229)
• 3. Prince of Songkla University, Thailand (338)
• 4. Mahidol University, Thailand (381)
• 5. Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (398)
• 6. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (468)
• 7. Chiang Mai University, Thailand (478)
• 8. Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia (562)
• 9. Khon Kaen University, Thailand (567)
• 10. Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia (661)

What? None from Malaysia? Well, the 11th is Universiti Putra Malaysia (686).

Click here to see the Top 100 Universities in South East Asia.

Top 10 Universities in Malaysia:

• 1. Universiti Putra Malaysia (686)
• 2. Universiti Sains Malaysia (725)
• 3. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (733)
• 4. University of Malaya (778)
• 5. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (985)
• 6. Universiti Teknologi Mara (1367)
• 7. Universiti Malaysia Perlis (1413)
• 8. Universiti Utara Malaysia (1454)
• 9. Multimedia University (1528)
• 10. International Islamic University Malaysia (1576)

Click here to see the universities and colleges ranking of Malaysia

Are you graduated from one of the world class universities/colleges? Some fresh graduates find it difficult to get a job. It could be due to few years back, they've made an unwise decision and studied in a low ranking university.

While some might want to argue that university ranking like this could be subjective, the employment market, locally or globally, will eventually reflect the reference value of the ranking system.
Click here to go to the homepage of Webometrics website.

eDividend to replace cheque and direct credit dividend entitlements into our bank account

Starting from 19 April 2010, investors in KLSE can opt to receive dividend payments from public listed companies in the form of eDividend instead of the traditional way of receiving dividend cheques.

This will bring convenient to share investors using direct trading account(s), although doesn't make much different to those using nominee account(s).

Common problems such as delay receipt of dividend cheque, lost cheque, cheque expired, etc. will be eliminated, as dividend payment will be directly credited into our bank account if we've applied for this eDividend service. After the money is banked in, we will receive eNotification via email and/or SMS.

We can register for eDividend with our stock broker. There will be no cost incurred if we apply for eDividend within the period from 19 April 2010 until 18 April 2011.

The following are needed when applying for eDividend:

• Fill up a 3-ply eDividend form, and provide info about our bank account number, email, mobile number, etc.
• Copy of bank statement
• Copy of NRIC / Passport / Authority Card

The registration process of eDividend is as follow.

And the eDividend payment flow is as follow.

All companies listed in KLSE who announce a books closing date for dividend entitlements on or after 1 September 2010 are required to pay dividends via eDividend to their shareholders who have registered for this service.

Click here for more information about eDividend.

Tan Teng Boo will conduct 2 seminars, 1 for fundamental analysis, 1 for technical analysis

You might be awared that Mr Tan Teng Boo (陈鼎武), the founder and key person of iCapital and Capital Dynamics, is going to conduct 2 seminars, 1 for fundamental analysis, 1 for technical analysis, together with his team.

Seminar 1: Understand Economic Indicators, Invest Successfully

Date: 10 April 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 8am- 5pm
Venue: Renaissance Kuala Lumpur

"Where is the global economy heading? Is China on the verge of a collapse? Will global interest rates keep rising? How will it impact currencies, economic growth and stock markets?"

"The comprehensive seminar will explain the methodology used for various economic indicators and their interpretation. It will look at the current economic structures and sources of growth of the US, China, Eurozone, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as their distinctive individual characteristics. The vital economic indicators of each economy will be presented and their implications explained."

Indicators:

• Gross Domestic Product
• Consumer Price Index
• Money Aggregates
• Balance of Payments
• Producer Price Index
• Money Supply
• Performance of Manufacturing Index
• Performances of Construction Index
• Index of Commodity Prices
• Performance of Services Index
• Leading Indicator of Employment
• International Trade in Goods and Services
• Interest Rates
• Building Approvals
• Business Indicators
• Inflation
• Real Estate Index
• Retail Sales
• Bank Lending
• New Auto Sales
• Tourist Arrival

Seminar 2: Understand Technical Analysis, Trade Successfully

Date: 11 April 2010 (Sunday)
Time: 8am- 5pm
Venue: Renaissance Kuala Lumpur

"Whilst many are sidelined, some savvy traders and investors are profiting handsomely from this volatility. To trade successfully, you must understand the risk return relationship and have the discipline to follow trading rules. Not just any arbitrary rules, but proven ones from knowing technical analysis and chart formations."


Click here for more information, pricing and registration form for the 2 seminars of Tan Teng Boo.

Have you activated your free complimentary Purchase Protection Plan for MasterCard?

If you are holding any MasterCard credit card issued in Malaysia, here is a good news to you.

MasterCard now offers their credit card holders a free complimentary Purchase Protection Plan (PPP), underwritten by Chartis Malaysia Insurance Berhad (CMI, formerly known as AIG General Insurance (M) Berhad).

This policy insures against loss or damage of your Personal Property / Items purchased (either locally or overseas) with your MasterCard credit card, in the event of Theft, Burglary, Robbery and Accidental Damage within 30 days from the date of items purchased.

The coverage is as follow.

Classic/Gold/Titanium/Premium/Platinum credit cards:

• Limit for Any One Occurrence: RM1,500
• Annual Aggregate Limit: RM7,500

WorldCard:

• Limit for Any One Occurrence: RM1,500
• Annual Aggregate Limit: RM10,000

All you need to do is to activate the plan by sending an SMS to 36660 (refer to their website or advertisement in newspaper for detailed instruction) or telephone to 1300-80-2988 within office hour. The plan is valid for 1 year from the policy effective date. No premium is payable as this plan gives you 12 months complimentary coverage.

This is the SMS I got after I sent my activation SMS to 36660.

Imagine that you are so unluckly to be robbed a few minutes after you bought a jewelry with your credit card; or you accidentally dropped a newly purchased camera / handphone / laptop. Now at least you can get the compensation from this Purchase Protection Plan. And since it is free, there is nothing to lose to activate it.

Click here for more information about the free Purchase Protection Plan for MasterCard.

Transforming my Streamyx & TM Homeline to Blockbuster Deals package

TM has recently launched their Blockbuster Deals package promotion, which seems to be attractive for us to get more at less cost.

This might be their respond to the market, after facing fierce competition from the mobile 3.5G and Wimax telcos. Like Chinese says: "you'll get improvement when you have competition" (有竞争才有进步), glad to see that over the years, TM and Streamyx has improved from their previous lousy service, in terms of broadband quality and speed, as well as better pricing for voice and Internet.

Let's see what we can get from this Blockbuster Deals package promotion:

• Zero charge on phoneline rental
• Free unlimited calls to TM fixed line nationwide
• Flat rate of 10 sen/min to all mobile and other fixed line nationwide
• Free DECT phone
• Free WiFi modem

And here is how the pricing structure like.

Although there is a contract period of 1 year, it is still an attractive deal, isn't it?

For those that don't need Streamyx broadband service, there is also a voice-only deal with 6 months contract period. I wonder who will be interested in this, but this plan is much better than the previous Let's Talk plan.

Click here for more information about the TM Blockbuster Deals.

Done my comprehensive health screening @ Golden Horses Health Sanctuary

Today I've done my comprehensive health screening together with my wife at Golden Horses Health Sanctuary(GHHS) inside the Palace of the Golden Horses.

Seems like both of us need to reduce some of our body fat to make it fall back to the "normal range" from the current slightly high side.

Few years back, we joint the membership of this health screening programme at the price of RM5,000 and entitiled to use some of the Country Heights' facilities (such as swimming pool, gym, etc.) and 20 years of annual health screening service at the cost of RM3xx per year.

This is a really comprehensive health examination. The result of the following 99 items are included in my report:

• General inspection (10 items)
• Ophthalmic inspection (8 items)
• Physical examination (11 items)
• Electrocardiogram (ECG) (1 item)
• Hearing inspection (2 items)
• Pulmonary function inspection (3 items)
• Hematology profile (15 items)
• Blood group (2 items)
• Diabetic screening (1 item)
• Lipids profile (6 items)
• Liver function (9 items)
• Renal function profile (5 items)
• Calcium, phosphorus and iron (3 items)
• Gout screening (1 item)
• Hepatitis B screening and other serology test (3 items)
• Arthritis screening (1 item)
• Thyroid profile (2 items)
• Cancer screening (2 items)
• Urinalysis (12 items)
• Chest X-Ray (1 item)
• Ultrasound abdomen and pelvis (1 item)

My wife's report contains even more items, including ultrasound on breast and pap smear test.

We are given free voucher (transferable) to conduct bone test, recommended for people above 45 years old. As we are still at our young age, we plan to transfer the entitlement for the bone test to our parents.

It is a good practice to conduct comprehensive health screening to our body, so that if there is any health distortion, can be detected and rectified at early stage. We can also enjoy an income tax relief of up to RM500 per year for complete medical examination like this.


So, have you done yours?
 

EPF declared 5.65% dividend for 2009

Few hours ago, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF, a.k.a. KWSP) has just declared the dividend  rate for financial year 2009 to be of 5.65%, which is considered higher than the expectation of most financial analysts and general public.

This is not too bad, compared to the low rate of 4.5% in FY 2008.

With this dividend rate, it seems that those who have withdrawn their EPF Account II savings to reduce their housing loan during 2009 might be regreted to do so, as the effective mortgage rate is generally lower than 5.65% in 2009, due to a lower BLR rate along the year.

Anyhow, this rate is still lower than my personal investment return rate in 2009, therefore I need not regrete to opt for 8% EPF contribution instead of 11% for year 2009-2010. You might have a clue of which shares I invested in by reading my Investment related articles here, particularly those written in 2009.

Also, this rate is lower than the return I got from the unit trusts I bought with MAAKL Mutual by using part of my EPF Account I savings. Begining from the month of June, I had made 3 such EPF withdrawals during 2009 to invest in unit trust funds in MAAKL Mutual.

Although the commission rate of buying unit trusts with EPF Account I withdrawal is set at 3%, I still find it pretty expensive, compared to the fees of buying share directly in KLSE through the stockbroker. Luckily it still provides a better return than the 5.65% of EPF, so seems like I have made a good try.

How about you? Are you happy with the 5.65% rate you got from EPF in 2009? Or not satisfied and demand for more?

Click here to read the official announcement from EPF, and the investment structure of EPF in 2009, etc.

Russia to produce UFO alike flying saucers able to carry 11,000 people?

There is an interesting news from Russia that a company called LocomoSky in their Ulianovsk of Volga is carrying out a government funded project to produce a bizarre hybrid of helicopter and aerostat, UFO alike "flying saucers".

The prototype, named "aerostatic thermoballasted vehicle" or simply "Locomoskayner" after its manufacturer, was presented in the MAKS-2009 International Aviation and Space Salon air show in Russia recently.

This prototype flying saucer was 23 feet in diameter, and was claimed to be able to transport 20 kg of cargo.

The company, however, plans to produce aircraft with a cargo-carrying capacity of up to 600 metric tons or a passenger capacity of up to 11,000 people.

Having low fuel consumption as compared to ordinary aircraft due to its aerodynamic form, the flying saucer will be able to hover, perform a vertical landing, move in a straight line with speeds close to 100 km/h, turn around, and most importantly, need no special ground-based facilities to land.

With its special flying characteristics and superb loading capacity, it will be able to transport out-sized cargoes to remote and inaccessible areas.

Let's see whether this dream will come into reality in the very near future.

5th Malaysia International Dive Expo (MIDE) 2010

If you are a fan of underwater diving or interested in this kind of activity which lets you explore into the beautiful, attractive and scenic world under the sea, be informed that the Malaysia International Dive Expo (MIDE), which is the biggest dive expo in Asia-Pacific region, will be held in Kuala Lumpur again for its 5th time.

Date: 30 July - 1 August 2010
Time: 10am - 7pm
Venue: Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur
Admission: free

Activities in the expo includes:

• Dive photo competition & winners gallery
• Seminar & talks
• Workshop & training programme
• Children colouring contest
• Exhibition with 150 exhibitors

Click here for more information about the 5th MIDE 2010.

JobStreet.com Malaysia Career & Training Fair (MCTF) 2010

The 9th Malaysia Career & Training Fair (MCTF) to be organized by JobStreet.com is coming soon. This event is freely open for public.

The previous MCTF 2009 had successfully attracted participation from more than 108,500 job seekers and over hundred of exhibitors. This year, they are targetting for 120,000 visitors.

The event details are as follow:

Date: 16-18 April 2010
Time: 10am ~ 7pm
Venue: Mid Valley Convention Centre (KL)

Job seekers are advised to bring along their C.V., and some of the exhibitors might conduct on the spot interview with suitable candidates during the event.

The 12th Post Graduate Education Fair (PGEF) 2010 will also be held at the same time and adjacent venue in Mid Valley Exhibition Centre together with this MCTF '10.

Click here to visit the official website of MCTF 2010.

Click here to see the exhibition floor plan of  MCTF 2010.

Post Graduate Education Fair (PGEF) 2010

The 12th Post Graduate Education Fair (PGEF) will be organized by AIC this coming April 2010. The event is freely open to public.

 

 

 

PGEF 2010 will be taking over the entire Mid Valley Exhibition Centre with more than 100 exhibitors from various countries including Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, United States of America, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, India and of course, Malaysia.

 

The event details are as follow:

Date: 16-18 April 2010
Time: 10am ~ 7pm
Venue: Mid Valley Exhibition Centre (KL)

 

The 9th Malaysia Career & Training Fair (MCTF) 2010 will also be held at the same time and adjacent venue together with this PGEF '10.

 

Click here for more information about PGEF 2010.

You might probably be interested to read on:

• The Top 10s in Universities Ranking on the Web (Jan 2010 Edition) by Webometrics

Money flowing out of Malaysia at an alarming speed

Money is flowing out of Malaysia at an alarming speed! Despite the "denial syndrome" of some local economists trying to find reasons and tell us to keep cool and ignore the alarm, the immediate question is still intact: How to reverse the flow as soon as possible? Can a solution be found in the New economic Model?

Issue 795 of The Edge Malaysia printed edition for the week of 1-7 March 2010 has a striking headline of "Reversing the Flow" for its cover story. I see this as a follow up report after UBS economist Jon Anderson's report titled "Malaysia - Another Bizarre Story". In fact, there was already a Special Report in Issue 789 of The Edge Malaysia titled "Malaysia: How Bizarre?" responding directly to Jon's report, which you can read its online version here.

Publicly available data from Bank Negara reveals it is no doubt true that Malaysia has, in the recent years, been squeezed by double outflow of money from:

• Slowdown in foreign direct investments (FDI) to the country
• Surge in investments to overseas by local companies

While some pointed the excuse for the sharp plunge of Malaysia's forex reserves in 2009 to the global recession, the 2nd opinion argued that during the same period, neighbouring economies in Thailand, China, Taiwan, Singapore,  Hong Kong, etc. were all in fact enjoying an upliftment in forex reserves!

Local companies going out of the border and invest in overseas could be viewed as a good sign from certain angle, as it shows the growth and competitiveness of the companies, as well as reaping benefits to the shareholders upon success. However, some has observed that most of the money invested in overseas remains at overseas, and not bringing back to Malaysia, yet. This is not good to the development of local economy. This kind of overseas investment also impacts the local job market, as the investment and business development activities might create job opportunities abroad, but not locally.

At the same time, we saw recently some well-known tycoons sold off their local business which they have developed for decades, and invest the proceeds overseas. Is this a migration move that never come back? Not a good sign either.

I am not an economist, but as a small investor, I care about the economic weather very much. As a worker, I also care about the local industry and job market growth trend. So, I am very keen to know how the government will respond the issue and reverse the flow as soon as possible, before it is too late.

Adding virtual desktops to Windows with VirtuaWin

Most Linux users are very familiar with virtual desktops (a.k.a. workspaces), which enables you to organize your opened applications in more than one desktop that you can switch over from one to another using hotkeys or mouse clicks.

Though virtual desktops feature is not bundled in MS Windows OS, its availability in the form of 3rd party software, either free or commercial, has been around for many years. Microsoft also provides a virtual desktops Powertoy called Virtual Desktop Manager (MSVDM), which many find it is slow, lack of functionality, and not performing as good as the 3rd party counterparts.

If you are looking for an open source virtual desktops for Windows, Virtual Dimension used to be a popular and good one, but its development seems to have ceased around 2005.

The virtual desktop I'm using now is VirtuaWin. It is free and licensed under GPL version 2, and latest release is Version 4.1 dated 09-09-2009.

VirtuaWin has been around since 1999. It can run in all version of modern Windows OS including Win 95, Win 98, Win ME, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP, Win 2003, Win Vista and Win 7.

It is very lightweight, fast in desktop switching, modular with features expandable by loading more modules into it. It even has a portable version which doesn't need any prior installation to use.

VirtuaWin is very easy to install and run. By default, you will get 4 virtual desktops (2 x 2) which you can navigate by pressing Ctrl-Alt together with one of the arrow keys on your keyboard. If you don't like this hotkey setting, you can always change your preference in its setup.

You can increase or reduce the number of virtual desktops by configuring its Desktop Layout, up to a maximum of 20. The more virtual desktops you use, the more amount of memory will be consumed.

With VirtuaWin, now you can use, for example, one desktop for web browsing, one desktop for graphics editing, one desktop for document writing, one desktop for network monitoring, ... this is of course more organized than cluttering all of them in a single desktop in Windows.

If you are a developer, and find any feature lacking in VirtuaWin, you can in fact make the feature by yourself using the VirtuaWin module SDK. Being open source and modular, the feature list of VirtuaWin is believed to be able to expand unlimitedly with the support and contribution from the developers community.

In fact, some of the fancy features in other virtual desktops software has been made available to VirtuaWin via module contributions.

The threat and vulnerability of GPS

The critical reliance and important usage on GPS nowadays, both in civil and military, has recently brought up a hot discussion again for the concerns in its threat and vulnerability.

Anyhow, this issue is not new, and has been discussed among technology experts for many years. Just that when GPS usage become more and more widespread, its threat and vulnerability need to be brought to its users' awareness, especially in the military, government and business sectors.

The GPS operation relies on signals from some 30 over orbiting satellites surrounding the earth in the space. In order for a GPS receiver to triangulate its position on earth, it needs to get signals from at least 3 GPS satellites.

GPS signal is known to be exceptionally weak. Each satellite transmits a signal equivalent to the power of a 25W light bulb from an distance of about 20,000km away. Such a weak signal can be readily interfered with or denied by unintentional or deliberate radio wave interference.

Portable GPS jammer devices such as the one shown in the diagram below have been made available for quite some times.

Some car security system and transportation logistic system make use of GPS to keep track on the position of the vehicle. It has been reported that car thieves make use of GPS jammer to disrupt the GPS signal and defeat the vehicle tracking system, therefore render the vehicle unlocatable.

Employees who drive vehicles that are tracked by their companies can also make use of the GPS jammer to hide their tracks.


In Germany, it is believed that some drivers are using GPS jammer to evade GPS-based road charging system.

Robbers can also easily spoof the GPS signal and guide the target vehicle to drive to their trap location.

Imagine what would happen if terrorists make attack on the GPS function of air traffic and/or naval traffic.

Beside its global positioning function, GPS is also used as a time server for time synchronization in certain infrastructure. This function can also be defeated by the jammer, and time critical system could be hacked in this way.

The GPS signal used by the US military is different from the civil signal, and is encrypted. However, it is also vulnerable to GPS jammer and subjected to interferrance from the enemy.

Imagine a GPS dependent missle being mislead by the enemy to attack on wrong target, or worse still, to attack to ally target instead of the enemy.

By intercepting the GPS signal, the position of military GPS user could be exposed to the enemy.

In the video below, you can see the GPS jammer in action and how it defeated the civil and military GPS.



So, what can we do to minimize the threat to GPS? Beside waiting for the US to strengten on the signaling, when we want to make use of GPS, also use some other alternative methods so that GPS could not be a single point of failure.

What are CPM, CPC, CPA, CPE, etc in online advertising

You might have noticed that my blog currently serves ads from Google Adsense and Innity Performance Network.

If you are familiar with online advertising, you should know about CPM, CPC, CPA, CPE, etc. If you are new to it, you might wonder what are these jargons about.

Well, they actually refer to the model in which you will be paid for ads running on your website or blog.

• CPM - Cost Per Mille or Cost Per Thousand Impressions. This is the easiest model to generate earnings, as every time the ads appear to a visitor to your site, you will get an amount of money. The rate is at 1,000 ad served. If your site produces less than 1,000 impressions for the ad, you will get a proportion of it. Google Adsense reports the estimated CPM rate you receive based on your earnings with Effective CPM (eCPM).
• CPC - Cost Per Click. You'll generate earnings when your visitors click on the ads displayed on your site.
• CPA - Cost Per Acquisition. You will be paid for leads generated on your site (e.g. product trial sign up, submission of survey, etc.)
• CPE - Cost Per Engagement. You will be paid for engagements generated by visitors from your site. Engagement is defined when a user response to the ad through the act of experiencing the features of the ad format. These features include advergames, videos or even social sharing.

Currently, you can get CPM and CPC ads from Google Adsense, while Innity Performance Network supports more models including CPM, CPC, CPA and CPE.

The rule of thumb: No matter what the revenue model is, visitor traffic is the key for you to get some earnings from online advertising.